As a new RTS game very much following in the footsteps of titans, Stormgate has a strong list of names at its back. It boasts several former Blizzard developers from the production of StarCraft, Warcraft, and Diablo, as well as designers who worked on the Command and Conquer series. While the free Steam game has a lot to praise mechanically, the main criticism from players has been around its unpolished visual state, which is currently a far cry from the flash of StarCraft 2. In order to help rectify this, developer Frost Giant Studios is bringing in another Blizzard veteran with a powerful résumé.
For me, the mechanics underpinning the best RTS games are the most important thing to get right. Building your base, moving units around, upgrading, expanding, and micromanaging during combat – it all has to feel sharp and responsive. Stormgate absolutely has that in its favor. Its current visual design, animation, and the basic in-engine cutscenes used during its campaign, however, have left many players feeling that Stormgate is a little too undercooked in its current state, leaving it with a ‘mixed’ Steam review score of just 49%.
Frost Giant has already taken its first steps towards fixing this with early patches and updates, including a complete visual redesign for its Vanguard poster hero Amara, but now it reveals another key piece of the puzzle. “We are pleased to welcome Frost Giant’s new art director, Allen Dilling, to the Stormgate development team,” the studio writes.
As the lead artist on StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm and assistant art director for Legacy of the Void, alongside past work on Warcraft 3, WoW, and Heroes of the Storm, it’s safe to say that Dilling has the legacy for the role. Frost Giant explains that, once he’s finished onboarding, Dilling will be “planning for the future of Stormgate’s visual identity.” For now, it says that the current focus is on “elevating our core factions, starting with the Infernal Host.”
Alongside this news, Frost Giant announces that it’s pushing its planned 0.2.0 content update to “later this year” while it focuses on the upcoming 3v3 Team Mayhem mode, which looks less at traditional RTS base building in favor of a more MOBA-like structure. The next playable Vanguard hero will also arrive at the same time, along with improvements to the gear system.
In the meantime, you can expect two more major updates. Patch 0.1.2 is landing before the end of October, bringing improved co-op progression, range indicators, and Halloween cosmetics. Patch 0.1.3 is set for November, and will feature a more substantial balance update primarily aimed at competitive 1v1 play.
Frost Giant is also working on “significant improvements to the Chapter Zero and One campaign missions,” but those won’t arrive until early 2025. These include a restructuring of the mission order, improved character models and animation, more playable heroes across missions, a new hero leveling system, dialogue rewrites, and a hub zone.
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